Tim Hardaway scored 18 of his 29 points in the first half as the
shorthanded Miami Heat opened a 28-point halftime lead and
cruised to a 101-88 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, their
seventh straight home win.

Eric Murdock scored 12 of his 14 points in a 27-8 burst early in
the second quarter that created a 49-26 cushion. Hardaway, who
also handed out 10 assists, added nine points in the period as
Miami took a 60-32 lead. The Hornets never led and got no
closer than the final margin.

Miami's Duane Causwell, starting in place of injured star center
Alonzo Mourning, grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds. Despite
their starting front line of Mourning, P.J. Brown and Jamal
Mashburn all sidelined with injuries, the Heat moved 1 1/2 games
in front of Indiana for the second-best record in the Eastern
Conference.

"They thought we were going to lay down tonight because we
didn't have Zo, P.J. and Mashburn," Hardaway said. "They
thought that we weren't going to have good offense or defense
tonight and execute on both ends of the court. ... We're not
going to deviate from our normal play without Zo."

Vlade Divac scored 18 points off the bench for the Hornets, who
have lost three in a row on the road and fell four games behind
Indiana in the East.

"We're down right now and that's not where you want to be
heading into the playoffs," said Hornets starting center Matt
Geiger, who was held scoreless. "You don't want to be up and
down come playoff time. We're just not consistent right now.
The last four or five games it's been either hit or miss with
us."

Charlotte, which sits 2 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta for fourth
place, had won the last four meetings with Miami but failed to
finish what would have been its first-ever season-series sweep
of the Heat.

Glen Rice, the Hornets' leading scorer, finished with just two
points on 1-of-6 shooting. He had averaged 32 points in three
wins over his former team earlier this season.

"We had some rules tonight on Glen," Heat coach Pat Riley
explained. "You have to be right on him, you can't help off
him. You have to stunt blitz on him. You have to make him a
passer more than anything else. I think Dan (Majerle) did a good
job of containing him. Once we got off to the big lead, he
wasn't a factor and wasn't going to become a factor."

"Glen is our go-to guy," Hornets coach Dave Cowens said. "When
you get doubled, you have to become a decoy. It's tough to get
shots when you are doubled."

Miami opened the game with a 12-4 spurt en route to a 25-18 lead
after one period. Lenard led the way with 10 points in the
first quarter while Causwell pulled down 11 boards, tying a team
record with eight defensive rebounds.

Causwell apparently was inspired by a private conversation he
had with Mourning prior to the game.

"He gave me some uplifting words and made me feel good about
being here and wearing a Miami Heat uniform," Causwell said.
"It was something I needed to hear."

Charlotte had the first basket of the second period but Murdock
answered with a layup to spark the 27-8 run. Marty Conlon
scored the next six points to build the lead to 33-20 with 9:31
remaining.

After a jumper by Hardaway increased the advantage to 44-26,
Murdock hit a driving layup and converted a three-point play to
cap the run with 4:47 to go before halftime. The Heat's 35
points was a season high for a second quarter.

Miami shot 51 percent (23-of-45) in the first half while holding
the Hornets to 33 percent (14-for-43) and tied a club record
with 25 defensive rebounds.

The Heat continued to pour it on in the third quarter, taking
their largest lead at 81-41 with 5:19 left after a dunk by
Strickland. Miami took an 86-56 cushion into the fourth
quarter.

"I think Tim put it best, `We got four real good performances
from our bigs," Riley said. "Cause (Causwell) had 11 rebounds in
the first quarter, Strickland was running the floor. Marty and
Terry came off the bench and gave us a good lift. It was just
an incredible game."

Charlotte made the final score respectable by outscoring the
Heat 32-15 in the final period. The Hornets' fourth-quarter
total equaled their entire scoring effort from the first half.

Vernon Maxwell scored 14 points and Anthony Mason collected 13
points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who were coming off
Friday's 96-89 win over Indiana.

"This is the first time that it looked like people quit. That's
what's most disturbing to me," Mason said. "Every team has its
go-to players and Glen and myself are two of them. There isn't
any use if they don't use us, they might as well not have us."